Check out these 15 things I want my son to understand before he becomes a teenager. 1. Fake It Until You Make It Sometimes you many not feel very confident, but know that you are capable, talented and intelligent. Sometimes you will have to fake confidence, but if you believe in yourself you will realize you are worthy of respect and that you deserve to be confident. 2. Always Try To Be Nice If you live by one rule, choose this one....

Photo: Jesper Sachmann, via Flickr Let Go Learn to let go of pain, anger, bitterness, resentment, and all the other destructive emotions that tear us apart. All we ever have is this present moment; this breath, this heartbeat, this opportunity for growth and presence. This is a moment we’ll never get back again, and if we consider the fact that we have no idea how long we’ll live, do we want to waste precious moments roiling with emotions that don’t do any good for anyone?...

Featured photo credit: Fitsum Admasu via unsplash.com

My eleven year old daughter said, “Creativity is being creative.” Okay. Good start. But we need to be a little more precise. So, let’s go to the standing authority on definitions. Here’s how the dictionary defines creativity: I think the word that stands out is “originality.” Something new. Why Is Creativity–Originality for that Matter–Important? Maria Popova, the founder of Brain Pickings, wrote a good post on a Harper’s Weekly article (“The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge”) that was written back in 1939....

I grew up with a single mom who was way too busy to cook anything from scratch except her famous chocolate chip cookies. Helping mom carefully stir the batter, forming (oddly shaped) cookie dough balls and sneaking little bittersweet chocolate chips were precious memories from my childhood. It makes me feel all warm and gooey inside just thinking about it. Or maybe I’m describing the way a freshly baked cookie tastes right out of the oven?...

Some of the awesome things you can do with Google include: Set a timer Explore Mars To take a virtual flight through Google Earth, press CTRL + Alt + A Get a bunch of resources on anything in one page Find new, free fonts Plan your wedding Learn how to pronounce long numbers Search flights and avoid airline websites Hand-write characters you can’t type to translate Build stuff with LEGO Explore beyond our galaxy Have Google fetch your info Learn some geography trivia Play Atari Breakout Compare the popularity of words through history Ask for reminders for things you search with Google Now Look at high resolution pictures of famous art To open a task manager specifically for Chrome, press Shift + Esc Always know how long the drive is with Google Now …and never forget where you parked Featured photo credit: Firmbee....

Why? The answer is a complicated one, but here’s what we do know: High achievers think differently. They act differently. They do things differently. To find your dream and start changing your life, the first step is to take the time to answer the following questions. What beliefs do you carry that may be holding you back? It takes guts to call yourself out and question beliefs that just don’t seem right....

1. Lincoln Road Antique & Collectible Market- Miami Beach, FL Located at the Lincoln Road Mall in Miami Beach. This has been noted as one of the most underrated flea markets in America, as well as one of the most interesting. You can find a huge variety of collectibles, as well as a few rare artisans and vendors. 2. Brooklyn Flea – Brooklyn, NY Located in Brooklyn, NY, this flea market is well known for being located in the historic One Hanson, as well as in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn....

1. You had a tough time getting employed as flight attendant Competition is ferocious and an opening for 1,500 spots could receive as much as 20,000 applications and many times higher. To get into an Ivy League school is far easier than landing a gig as a flight attendant. 2. You are not meant to be too tall or too short There remains a constraint that you have to be tall enough to grab equipment from the overhead bins and not tall enough to be hitting your heads on the ceiling....

2) They don’t compare The partner realizes that each person they date has strengths and weaknesses and refrains from comparing their current partner to their exes – especially unfavorably. Just because an ex was unfaithful does not mean that another partner will be so too. 3) They understand the idea of ‘give and take’ The partner is aware that all relationships need both partners to put in effort. It’s all about balance, about the give and take....

There are some limitations to Gmail’s filters that I’d like to see improved in the future, including: the inability to mark a post as read the inability to create live “smart folders” difficulty in adding a large number of email addresses to a filter But all in all, the filter function is very cool. Here are some ideas for how to use it:

This past Monday, we debuted two reader surveys as part of our continuing efforts to make Lifehack.org the best that it can be. You guys maxxed out the number of responses the long form survey could handle in under two hours, and it wasn’t much longer after that when you maxxed out the short form survey as well. You guys had a lot to say, and we’ve spent the last couple of days tabulating data, reading over your comments, and planning a revamped editorial calendar....

1. The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie – Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie lived to be one of the greatest businessmen of his generation. His autobiography details his ascent from living on the streets to founding an amazingly successful company. You’ll gain great insights from Carnegie throughout the book. 2. The Autobiography of Malcolm X – Malcolm X Malcolm X represents one of the most significant figures in the civil rights movement. His autobiography, published in 1965, allows readers to understand his philosophy on black pride, black nationalism, and pan-Africanism....

When you look at your lifestyle, you realize how easy it is to fall prey to a list of bad habits. The difficult part is breaking bad habits and making yourself free from them. The habit of biting your nails or restlessly playing with your hair may sound harmless at first, but these habits become hard to break in the long run. Along with these, certain bad habits are dreadful for your health, like smoking and drinking....

Rock & Roll There are many different sub-genres within the rock and roll genre, and any of them are great to listen to while working, as long as they are what you like listening to. If you work at a job that requires you to be on your feet and moving around, you can add a few fun dance moves while listening to your favorite rock albums. Here are some excellent options:...

The recipes listed here contain lots of vegetables, minimal or no processed ingredients, and most importantly, flavors that even the pickiest kids will love! The ingredients for each meal are listed below. Click on the name of the dish to see the full recipe! Finger Foods 1. Asian-Style Fish Cakes with Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce Do you have a finicky eater that refuses to eat fish? This is a great way to make this omega-3 fatty acid rich protein appealing and fun to eat....

Sugar for the body (external) 1. Tongue Burns Burn your tongue from sipping hot coffee or tea? Sprinkle a few granules on your tongue and the pain should dissipate. 2. Hair Gel A teaspoon of sugar dissolved in a cup of warm water makes great hair gel. Dissolve the sugar, then dip your fingers in the mixture and style your hair. It works swell for spiky-hair looks. 3. Lipstick Extender Apply your lipstick as usual, then sprinkle a bit of sugar on your lips, let it sit, and then dip your finger in a little water and dab off the remaining sugar....

There are a lot of fantastic productivity apps out there that cost a decent chunk of change like OmniFocus, Things, Microsoft Office Suite, Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t free alternatives that are just as good or even better. You can essentially become a productivity machine without spending a penny (except for an internet connection that is). Here are 26 free productivity apps to help you get things done....

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t want to be happier. Do you? This desire seems to be nearly universal. However, the path to happiness often feels convoluted and difficult, where two steps forward seem to become three steps back. Fortunately, science can inform our pursuit of happiness. Happiness is a popular field of study among researchers, and there are ways to become happier that can suit every budget, lifestyle, and personality....

Here are 3 foods you probably didn’t know you should stay away from if you’re looking to lose weight: Granola and Granola Bars Granola sounds great! The advertisements are stacked with adventurous people in the outdoors hiking and doing other athletic things — so it’s gotta be great, right? Well, not so fast! Granola and granola bars tend to be stacked with sugar and usually turn out to be nothing more than very well-marketed candy bars....